57 Sedan , C4, LSI, T56 Project

[Willawog]

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Here is my 57 project. This was my high school car that I recently bought back. I sold it in 1986 and it isn't much different than when I had it. I was the last one to drive it.

The plan is for C4 suspension and an LS1 with a T56.

A couple of things:

Many thanks to Laszlo / Chevynut for all his help. When I was trying to decide on a C4 setup, he answered all of my dumb questions patiently. His depth of knowledge on these cars is unbelievable. I did a bunch of research on frames and conversions. I even went and looked at Newman Car Creations frames. They are great people and make a very high quality product. After about six months contemplation, I decided on a clip from Laszlo. I received it right before Christmas and couldn't be happier. The quality is great and it was relatively simple to install with the detailed instructions. By doing this myself, I was able to purchase my engine and tranny with the money I saved. For anyone considering a C4 conversion, I can not recommend Laszlo high enough. His customer service, level of knowledge, and quality of product are outstanding.

Also, I purchased my front and rear C4 suspension from Shawn (Sparky) Martin at Corvettenutz.com in Lake Elsinore, Ca. Again, another guy with great service and he is very knowledgeable. He has a lot of parts and he spent a lot of time helping me and showing me options. I would recommend him to anyone looking for parts.

Lastly, I bought an LS1/T56 with 39,000 miles out of a 2000 Trans Am off of Ebay from LS candy Shop. This was a big purchase for me and very scary to wire money and get something shipped across the country. Their service was great. My engine/tranny combo arrived very well packaged and had everything you could think of included. Very pleased with them.

OK, on to the project.

Here it is the day I brought it home:
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Tony Nancy style notched bench seat
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And the bitchin sunroof . I have another top so I can fix this.
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Was going to be just a clean rebuild kind of gasser/pro street cross with a tunnel rammed big block and a Muncie
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But, I decided I wanted to drive the car. I wanted reliability and air conditioning. So went the modern route.

Built a body cart
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Frame before
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During cleanup
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C4 clip
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LS1
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I had used 66 Chevelle headers when I had a big block in the car. They tucked very nice and only needed one tube modified for the steering box. Since this has a rack, I figured I would try the Chevelle LS swap headers and they are about perfect.

Kooks headers for a 64-72 Chevelle
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Flush with bottom of frame
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So that's about where I am at now. I will be doing the rear suspension soon. I will keep you posted.

Take care.

[NickP]

Nice start!

[chevynut]

Nice work Arend. Looks like you did a great job matching the frame to the clip and those headers look like they fit about as good as you could expect. I've been recommending Hooker Super Comps to some of my customers with LS engines, so I'll add them as an option.

Let me know if you need any help with the rear installation instructions.

And THANK YOU for the recommendation!

[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

nice project, thanks for sharing.

[BAM55]

Very nice project.

[WagonCrazy]

Nice project. You just motivated me to redirect some attention at finishing my Nomad build. Time and money, you need some of both at the same time to finish these projects.

[markm]

Now that sunroof is Disco.

[Willawog]

I read Chevynut's post on site content. I am terrible about posting. So here is an update on my project. Denny's driveshaft and Rick's tank. Working on stainless exhaust and crossmembers now.

[chevynut]

Looks like it's coming along great! Keep up the good work.

[rockytopper R.I.P 5-13-2017]

Looking good!!!! I just order the pypes exhaust it looks similar to what you have. Not sure how I'm going to X brace the frame with the exhaust crossover but time will tell. It's going to be real nice driver when your done.